Cystic Fibrosis News and Research

Latest Cystic Fibrosis News and Research

Cell mechanism discovery may lead to new treatments for cystic fibrosis, other inherited diseases

Researchers in Japan and Canada have discovered a key component of the quality control mechanism that operates inside human cells - sometimes too well. The breakthrough has significant implications for the development of new treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF) and some other hereditary diseases, the researchers say. Their results were published July 25 in the journal Science.

29 Jul 2008

Olympic doping - scientists race to stay ahead of the drug-taking and genetic manipulation

The race to ensure that scientists stop drug-taking athletes from damaging sport by using performance enhancing drugs or undergoing genetic manipulation is a constant challenge, according to a major four-decade review by three of the World's leading experts on doping in sport.

29 Jul 2008

Superbug breakthrough

The week the government's chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, has announced that the NHS aims to create immunisation against two of the most common superbugs, MRSA and Clostridium difficile, within the next decade. But a research team led by University of Sunderland scientists has made a major breakthrough in the fight against a deadly hospital infection which kills tens of thousands of people every year, and it will be available within the next year.

17 Jul 2008

Researchers find six genes that, when mutated, contribute to autism

The hunt for gene mutations that contribute to autism has proceeded slowly, largely because autism encompasses a spectrum of diseases. Just as its symptoms vary widely among individuals, so do the genetic mutations that cause them.

10 Jul 2008

Advances in RNA research

RNA, the transporter of genetic information within the cell, has emerged from the shadow of DNA to become one of the hottest research areas of molecular biology, with implications for many diseases as well as understanding of evolution. But the field is complex, requiring access to the latest equipment and techniques of imaging, gene expression analysis and bioinformatics, as well as cross-pollination between multiple scientific disciplines.

10 Jul 2008

Aventix Pharma takes over key patents for innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis

The rights to key patents for an innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis were transferred today to Swiss biotech company Axentis Pharma AG.

26 Jun 2008

Premature babies feel pain but don't show it

Brain scans of premature babies undergoing a simple medical procedure have revealed though they may appear to be pain free, they are experiencing pain.

24 Jun 2008

Looking into our bodies with state-of-the-art equipment

The University of Bristol is already world-famous for its biomedical research, but following a £2.3 million investment in newly refurbished labs, it will be able to advance techniques that look in even greater detail at what's going on in our bodies.

23 Jun 2008

Scientist deciphers language bacterial cells use to 'talk' to each other - also discovers how to quell their conversation

Understanding the way bacterial cells "talk" to each other could lead to more effective methods for fighting the often persistent and serious infections caused by the biofilms they form, says a Texas A&M University professor of chemical engineering who not only has deciphered their language but also discovered how to quell their conversation.

11 Jun 2008

Global drug research programme comes to Diamond in Oxfordshire

Diamond has announced that USA-based global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is the first industrial user at the UK's world class new research facility, Diamond Light Source

27 May 2008

NYT examines limited options for disabled children who reach age 18

The New York Times on Wednesday examined how as "medical advances have allowed patients who might have died as children to survive into adulthood, the patients are falling into a void in a health care system that has yet to develop institutions for the young and 'medically fragile.'"

19 May 2008

Superbug genome sequenced

The genome of a newly-emerging superbug, commonly known as Steno, has just been sequenced. The results reveal an organism with a remarkable capacity for drug resistance. The research was carried out by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge and the University of Bristol.

6 May 2008

New imaging technology lights up lungs to diagnose disease

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed innovative technology which illuminates a person's lungs and helps clinicians identify if they are functioning correctly. The new technology could result in earlier diagnosis of emphysema and smoking related damage, as well as other lung conditions and diseases.

28 Apr 2008

New vector carries big genes linked to inherited blindness

Some clinicians and researchers hope that individuals with inherited diseases (such as cystic fibrosis and recessive Stargardt disease, which causes progressive loss of sight) might one day be cured by providing them with a corrected version of their disease-causing faulty gene, i.e., by gene therapy.

16 Apr 2008

Cystic fibrosis, Burkholderia cenocepacia and lung transplantation

During last Wednesday's Satellite Symposium 3: The Challenges of Lung Transplantation in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) at the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions, clinicians and researchers discussed some of the unique challenges in achieving excellent lung transplant outcomes in patients with CF.

13 Apr 2008

Asthma and smoker's lung: dry airways play a key role

Dry airways may not only play a central role in the development of the inherited lung disease cystic fibrosis, but also in much more common acquired chronic lung diseases such as asthma and smoker's lung, the cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

8 Apr 2008

Rare genetic syndrome may hold key to cure for heat stroke

A genetic disorder that can cause a fatal rise in body temperature in some patients undergoing general anesthesia may hold the key to a cure for heat stroke, according to research published in the April 4 edition of the journal Cell.

4 Apr 2008

Potential new treatments for polycystic kidney disease

A family of small molecules called CFTR inhibitors show promising effects in slowing the progression of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), the most common genetic disease of the kidneys, according to preliminary research reported in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

3 Apr 2008

Lung transplants not dangerous for children with cystic fibrosis, after all

Responding to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which concluded that lung transplants were harmful for children with cystic fibrosis, articles published in the latest issue of Pediatric Transplantation refute the conclusions and argue that the highly influential research was severely flawed.

1 Apr 2008

Research leads to innovative therapies against cystic fibrosis

New U of T research holds promise for developing innovative therapies against cystic fibrosis and may also serve as a model for future therapies against the HIV virus.

19 Mar 2008